PATRIOTISM NOT MEASURED BY NUMBER OF FLAGS.

Byline: Joseph Staub Local View

SOMETHING is missing from all the attention surrounding Glendale service station owner Kelly Khoury's successful fight to display his American flags.

While the discussion has focused on whether he has the right to fly all those flags, no one has suggested that flying so many American flags is a bit much. Maybe it's time they did.

Before I continue, let me say that I believe Khoury's patriotism to be genuine. In this nation of immigrants, it is often in those who have fresh memories of the alternative that the love of liberty is most profound. I also do not believe that the Glendale City Council is anti-American flag. At worst, I think it is guilty of applying signage laws rather thoughtlessly.

Let me also say that, as a flag historian, I love to give presentations on the fascinating history of our flag. As a history teacher, I lead the Pledge of Allegiance every day, and I impress upon my students the importance of meaning the pledge if you choose to say it.

Patriotism is something I take seriously, and I like to think I practice an intelligent brand of it.

My brand of patriotism requires me to question whether Khoury needs so many flags to make his point. I happen to think too many American flags flown in one place actually detracts from the intended effect. In fact, the only places I have seen numerous American flags flown together with a dramatic effect is around the base of the Washington Monument, decorating military graves and the occasional parade.

Otherwise, too many flags cheapens each flag's worth.

In this country, people seem to be spending less time contemplating what the flag means and more time simply piling on the red, white and blue. Look at our politicians and how they compete to deliver their speeches in front of more and more American flags. Look at the way the U.S. track team in Sydney turned American flags into props for its sorry self-aggrandizement.

Do you think those politicians are motivated by true love of country? Do you think those athletes were concerned with anything more than how their country's flag fit when they wore it as turbans and capes? Of course they weren't.

In the case of the politicians, the problem is that the spin-doctors and the marketing types have figured out that the flag is a powerful tool that can cover a multitude of sins. In the athletes' case, well, that's proof that you can be the fastest guy on the track and still be a self-centered clown with no class.

The flag isn't supposed to be a toy, or a partisan political tool or a component of advertising.

The flag is supposed to lead citizens to consider their country in their every action. It is supposed to remind us of the great sacrifices made by millions of people - some of whom made very great sacrifices indeed - all for their nation.

It is supposed to remind all Americans that we are part of something greater than ourselves.

How can two flags, or 10, or even 100, do all this better than one flag?

It's this part of the whole Khoury question that bothers me. Everybody's talking about whether Khoury can, from a legal standpoint, fly his flags. But that many flags perhaps should be reconsidered from a standpoint of taste.

While I still don't doubt Khoury's patriotism, I would be surprised if he flew a dozen or more American flags at his home, the way he does at his business. If he did, his neighbors would probably have something to say about it. And they would be right, without calling into question their patriotism, or Khoury's.

I worry about the degradation of our national symbol because perhaps the biggest threat comes from those people who - often in perfect innocence - fail to take into account the flag's dignity. There have to be guidelines, and those guidelines don't all have to be coded into law. Some limits on using the American flag have to be founded in tradition, and in knowing what is not acceptable, even if it's legal.